Thursday, February 13, 2014

february brings more snow

Gladys was copying out that ridiculous poem yesterday 'January brings the snow, makes my feet and fingers glow (what does that even mean?). February brings the rain thaws the frozen lakes again (rain and again are supposed to rhyme presumably).'

Gladys read it out and then looked up in confusion and wonder. "What month are we in?"

"February," I said, making some kind of small effort to surpress some bad words. "I don't remember who wrote this poem," I said, "but February never brings the rain and March doesn't bring the flowers." We were all seven of us huddled around the heater in the school room, sniffling and warming our cold fingers like something medieval. There were constant fights and jostlings as each tried to be as near the heater as possible without touching it and being burned. And now the snow is dumping out of the sky again. It's a valentines day miracle. But Binghamton hasn't canceled school. Heh heh heh. Suckers.

So I bought myself some flowers. It seemed the only thing to do.

And I carry them to whichever room I'm in as a coping mechanism.

Matt tried to say that because he had said I should sometimes buy flowers that somehow this counted as him buying them for me.

"No," I explained calmly and slowly, "If you want credit for buying flowers you have to go outside in the muck and put gas in the car and actually buy them."

He looked up from his computer vaguely as if he had heard some kind of sound but couldn't locate if. "Hmm?" he said.

Later I took Elphine to her second time of fencing. Ohmyword she is so cute and short with the helmet and sword and glove and everything.

And her unmatched socks. Her commitment to the truth led her correct me that she "did it on purpose".

"I couldn'tfind matching socks," she told everyone reproachfully.

"Well," I said to the assembly, "I have six children and my husband does all the laundry." Everyone nodded understandingly.